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Scene Study prepares you to perform key scenes for your theater class or audition. We've got all the information you need for a great performance.
Excerpt from Act 2, Scene 1 Dialogue: Brutus, Portia
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Understanding the Given Circumstances
- Brutus and Portia are husband and wife.
- The scene takes place in their orchard late at night (or early in the morning). Brutus has not been able to sleep, and Portia has come to see what troubles him.
- Brutus is now engaged in a dangerous and secret conspiracy to assassinate his friend, Julius Caesar, to prevent him from becoming a tyrant. He’s just finished having a conversation with his co-conspirators. The attempt is imminent; it will occur sometime in the coming day.
- Portia knows no details of the conspiracy, but she does know that Brutus has just received a visit from several men who appeared keen to avoid being recognized, so she knows he has a secret.
- Portia succeeds in convincing Brutus to open up to her, but he promises to do so at a later time.
Blocking and Movement
In theater, blocking is the process of planning the actors’ physical movements and positions. Be sure to show respect and establish trust when working with scene partners. As you prepare to block this scene, ask yourself the following questions:
- How can you use the distance between Brutus and Portia to signal how they feel at the start of the scene and by the end of the scene? When are they very close to each other, and when are they far apart? What is the reason the distance between them changes? How does the distance reflect how they feel about each other?
- This scene is approximately 80 lines long, and its climax occurs 10 lines from the end, with the display of the “voluntary wound.” Leading up to this climax, there are only two specific stage directions: Portia first kneels and then rises. How can you prevent the scene from pacing too quickly? What pauses can you include in the dialogue? What movements can you make to ensure the audience stays engaged in the argument? In other words, how can you avoid having a scene where Brutus and Portia just quickly say their lines to each other and move on?
- You may notice that Portia has many lines in this scene while Brutus does not. That means the actor playing Brutus has to think hard about what he’s doing with his body and face during Portia’s long speeches. He should not stay stagnant. Even experienced actors have to remember to be present in the scene, listen to their scene partner, and not simply wait for their own line. How can you block movement to make Brutus’s reactions clear without upstaging Portia (drawing the audience’s attention away from her)?
- Portia’s demonstration of her “voluntary wound” is an important action and the climax of the scene. Some productions have her reveal an existing wound, while others have her appear to injure herself on stage. How will you handle this moment in a way that warrants Brutus’s surprised but admiring reaction with his line, “O ye gods, / Render me worthy of this noble wife!”?
Character Relationships
This scene hinges on the relationship between Brutus and his wife, Portia. This is the first and only time the audience sees them interact, so the actors must convey a great deal of information about their partnership in a short time.
Although Portia begs to know what is troubling him, Brutus chooses not to confide in her about the murder he’s conspiring to commit. Portia believes he does not trust her to keep it secret because she is a woman, which leads her to offer “proof of [her] constancy.” The idea that women are less reliable than men would have been familiar to Shakespeare’s audience, and Rome, where the play is set, was a patriarchal society in which the concept of virtue itself came from the word for man: vir.
However, it’s more likely that Brutus thinks of his political life, conducted with other men, as wholly separate from his wife in the domestic sphere. Julius Caesar is a heavily masculine play. There are only two women, the other being Caesar’s wife, Calpurnia, and neither she nor Portia has a big role. But Portia demands recognition, by “that great vow/Which did incorporate and make us one.” She argues that she and Brutus, as a married couple, are two halves of the same person. She even cuts herself, showing traditional masculine virtues of bravery and sacrifice. Portia’s ability to separate herself from other women convinces Brutus to bring her into his confidence.
Consider these questions that may help clarify the characters and their relationship:
- How does Brutus see Portia? What tone of voice does he use with her? How much of his understanding corresponds with patriarchal ideas of what women are, and how much differs?
- How open and communicative is Brutus and Portia’s relationship? How do you imagine Portia has approached concerns in the past with Brutus? Is this in a similar vein, or does she handle this differently?
- What, if anything, do you think has changed about their relationship after this discussion?
Full Act 2, Scene 1 Dialogue: Brutus, Portia
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